BBC - History - British History in depth: The Cathedrals of Britain On This Day The Cathedrals of Britain The history of Britain and the aspirations of her Christian communities can be traced in the glorious excesses of the cathedrals. From Norman grandeur to the modern interpretations found in Liverpool and Coventry, explore the changing styles of the cathedrals in our midst. On this page Print this page Centuries of style The cathedrals of Britain span the millennium - from the cathedrals dating from the 1100s to the modern cathedrals found in Liverpool and Coventry. They display a wide array of architectural styles from Early English Gothic, to the majesty of the Renaissance at St Paul's and the sixties modernism of Liverpool's Roman Catholic Cathedral. In the Middle Ages and up to the Reformation in the 1500s, the Church enjoyed enormous power and wealth, and cathedrals are eloquent symbols of its dominant place in British society. Cathedrals in the Middle Ages weren't the quiet, reverential places of worship we know today. Cathedrals in the Middle Ages weren't the quiet, reverential places of worship we know today.

In Lincoln, for example, the central nave or aisle was where pilgrims chatted and shared news; there would have been an elaborately carved stone screen to separate the ordinary people in the nave from the priests and monks worshipping and singing in the choir. Cathedrals were elaborate and brightly coloured before much of the interior decoration and original medieval art was destroyed during the Reformation and the Civil War. During the Civil War, cathedrals were used as garrisons, prisons and even stables. Now only traces remain of the vibrant colours that were often whitewashed out of existence. Top Cathedral floorplan Many of the cathedrals in Britain are orientated east to west. The nave is situated in the west end of the cathedral where people would come to pray. For that reason, it is the long hall of the cathedral. (The nave is 5 on the diagram below.) The choir (11) is at the east end of the cathedral. It is here that the high altar (13) is generally found. The clergy traditionally prayed here and an elaborately carved screen was often built to separate them from the general public in the nave.

This part of the cathedral is often called the 'quire' - the 19th century spelling of 'choir'. St Paul's in London still uses this spelling. The north and south transepts (7, 9) separate the choir from the nave. This means that the layout of cathedrals usually forms the shape of a cross. Side altars are found in the transepts as well as the tombs of important people. The central tower or dome (8) of the cathedral is found at the centre of this 'cross'. These high towers are supported by piers or pillars. At Salisbury Cathedral, it is possible to see that the piers have been slightly bent out of shape by the weight of the tower. The tombs of past bishops and famous saints are often found in side chapels (2, 3). In the later Middle Ages, the wealthy would pay for private chapels to be built where their families could say mass in private. Top Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral is one of twenty cathedrals that were built after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 when William the Conqueror seized control of England and Wales.

It is built in the Early English Gothic style and has a simple layout in the shape of a cross. This cathedral is built of 70 thousand tons of stone with over three thousand tons of timber for the roof which was covered with 450 tons of lead. Much of the stone came from nearby quarries. At this time, cathedral construction was at the cutting edge of building technology, and errors of judgement led to the collapse of the central towers at both Winchester and Lincoln. With foundations only four feet deep, Salisbury was lucky to escape this when the imposing spire was added. However, the columns of the central crossing are now bowed by around ten inches. St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's was the first British cathedral to be built for the Anglican faith at the end of the 1600s. It is therefore ironic that its famous architect, Sir Christopher Wren, borrowed heavily from the Catholic Renaissance by adopting such features as the dome and Corinthian columns. The original St Paul's Cathedral was built on the same site in 604 by Bishop Mellitus. The Vikings burnt it down in 962 and it was rebuilt in the Gothic style.

This was begun in 1087 and completed two centuries later in 1310. This cathedral was then destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. Wren's masterpiece was started in 1675 and took 35 years to complete. Unlike many of the medieval masons, whose cathedrals took centuries to complete, Wren was able to see it finished. It cost £700,000 - about £53 million today. On the inner dome, there are frescoes of scenes from the life of St Paul. These were painted by Sir James Thornhill and can be seen from the Whispering Gallery. Wren died at 91 and his tomb is marked by a black marble slab in the St Paul's crypt. St Michael's of Coventry The Gothic cathedral, St Michael's of Coventry, was destroyed on the night of 14th November 1940 when some 500 tons of high explosives and 40,000 fire bombs were dropped on the city. All that remained of the old cathedral was the spire and the building's shell.

The new cathedral was built next to the old in the 1950s and the early 1960s. The architect Basil Spencer had won the competition with his radical departure from the Gothic original. He recalled that when the plans for the new steel and concrete cathedral were revealed in the press, he received hundreds of letters the next morning. "80 percent were rude and the remaining 20 percent were very rude." In a 1974 interview, he recalls that the project took up ten years of his life, and when it was finished, it left a terrible vacuum. Whilst medieval cathedrals took centuries, the new Coventry Cathedral took just six years to build. The one-and-a-half ton metal spire was flown in by helicopter and, according to contemporary news footage, took just eight minutes to install. Top Winchester Cathedral Winchester Cathedral © Winchester Cathedral stands on a site that has been a place of Christian worship for over a thousand years. In the 1000s, the old Minster was destroyed to make way for the new cathedral.

This is one of the largest medieval churches in the world thanks to a nave of over 160 metres long and provides a fitting home for the Bishops of Winchester, some of whom weren't just the wealthiest men in England but in Europe as well. The Bishops' power and affluence is indicated by the many grand memorial chapels in the cathedral which house their tombs. Among these luminaries are Stephen Gardiner who officiated at the wedding between Mary Tudor and Phillip of Spain in 1554 and Henry Beaufort, half brother to Henry IV and banker to Henry V. For centuries, Winchester was a place of pilgrimage. It was the last resting place of Saint Swithun who lived in the 9th century. After his death, his bones were said to heal the sick and pilgrims flocked to the cathedral in their thousands. Stalls were set up to sell relics and clay models of the parts of the body that required healing. These were then placed in the shrine in the hope of a miracle cure. Winchester Cathedral's power and influence came to an end with the Reformation in the 1500s... Winchester Cathedral boasts some of the finest medieval wood carving in Britain, if not Europe.

In the 13th century England's greatest carpenter, William Lyngewode, spent four years decorating the cathedral's stalls. Another outstanding example of its medieval art is the Great Screen. It was erected in the 1400s but the original statues with their vivid colours didn't survive England's religious upheavals. Now, only the whitewashed backdrop of the original screen remains while the current statues are Victorian. Events have taken their toll on the cathedral. The West Window was smashed by the Roundheads during the English Civil War in the 1600s. The locals pieced it together but in a rather haphazard way, and it has the appearance of a rather abstract art work. The cathedral is also home to the beautifully decorated Winchester Bible, the best example of a 12th century bible in the country. Winchester Cathedral's power and influence came to an end with the Reformation in the 1500s and the Dissolution of the Monasteries during Henry VIII's reign. The scale of the Church's power can be imagined when it is considered that it controlled one third of the country's wealth before Henry VIII stripped it of much of its lands and privileges.

Top Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral © Wells Cathedral was built entirely in the Gothic style in the late 1100s and serves the smallest city in England. One of the major glories of this cathedral is the West Front. It was begun in 1215 and, on its completion, boasted the largest collection of figurative statues in the western world at that time. It depicts the history of the world as told in the Bible, and shows Christ flanked by angels above statues of the disciples and kings as well as martyrs and confessors. The West Front is flanked by two towers. Chapter House ceiling, Wells Cathedral © The West Front is now bare stone but in its medieval heyday, this would have been brilliantly painted with strong bold colours. Sound was also part of the religious spectacle. Within the cathedral is a special gallery where the choristers sang hymns to the people gathered outside. The sound was channelled to the outside thanks to a series of carefully hidden holes in the West Front. The singing would have occured on religious occasions such as Palm Sunday. The original central tower of Wells Cathedral was damaged by an earthquake in the 13th century.

The rebuilding took some 60 years to complete but, after just 20 years, cracks began to appear. In order to save the tower from collapse, the master mason, William Joy, built the 'scissor arches' that can still be seen in the main part of the cathedral and the hidden buttresses in the upper part of the church building. 700 years later, it is safe to say that these measures have been successful in preserving the tower for posterity. The cathedral boasts some of the finest medieval stained glass to be found in England which, miraculously, survived the Reformation and the Civil War. The 'Jesse' or 'Golden Window' dates back to 1340 and, thanks to its height, avoided the stones of the mob. The window traces the ancestry of Christ through Mary to Jesse, the father of King David, in the shape of a genealogical tree. Top St Magnus Cathedral St Magnus Cathedral, Orkney © St Magnus, the most northerly cathedral of Britain, towers over the town of Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. Work on the cathedral began in 1137; many of the masons came from Durham whose cathedral was also under construction.

It was founded by Earl Rognvald in the memory of his relative St Magnus, who had been murdered by his cousin Hakon, co-ruler of the Orkneys. Hakon is depicted in a stained glass window in the north transept which dates from the 19th century. In 1980, local children contributed a whole series of paintings to show the events in his life and the brutal murder. Although St Magnus Cathedral is small compared to other cathedrals in Britain, it has a number of distinctive features. One of these is the use of 'polychrome' work: the technique of using different coloured stones to form patterns in the stonework. At St Magnus local red stone and a yellow sandstone, probably from the nearby island of Eday, is arranged in a chequered pattern effect around the window arches. The red stone was dug from a nearby quarry just a few miles from Kirkwall on a piece of land known as the Head of Holland. St Magnus is also renowned for being the only cathedral in Britain with a dungeon - Marwick's Hole. The origins of the name have been associated with a romantic story.

In the 1600s, Jane Forsyth was accused of witchcraft and sentenced to be burned at the stake. She was rescued from the dungeon the night before this was due to be carried out by her lover and they went off to live in Manchester, then a distant place. St Magnus Cathedral © The most poignant memorial in the cathedral is dedicated to the memory of the hundreds of sailors who died when the British ship Royal Oak was sunk by a German U-boat just a few months after the declaration of war in 1939. Charlotte Omand, from Orkney, remembered that Kirkwall was shocked by the sinking and that the air stank of oil for days afterwards. Now, once a week, a single page of the memorial book in the cathedral is turned as a reminder of the loss of life. St Magnus is unique among British cathedrals for its use of the Norwegian style of bell ringing known as 'clocking'. Just one bellringer can operate the bells by hand and using footpedals. This custom is proof of the strong Viking influence found on these islands and in Kirkwall itself, a cathedral city of just 7,000 people.

Top Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral © Taller than the Egyptian Pyramids, Lincoln Cathedral is an imposing tribute to medieval British architecture. It has been through a series of building disasters and mishaps in its near 1000 years of existence. The first mishap came in the 12th century, less than 100 years after the cathedral was built. A fire swept through the cathedral, and the wooden roof was replaced by a stone vault. However this was, in turn, destroyed a few decades later when a major earthquake destroyed much of the building. Bishop Hugh, who was later canonised as a saint, then had the cathedral rebuilt in the Gothic style. The next disaster was in the 13th century when the central tower collapsed and, in the 16th century, the wooden spire was blown down in a gale. St Hugh's life was pivotal to the history of Lincoln Cathedral. In his lifetime, he was known as pious man who tended to the sick and worked on rebuilding the cathedral. One famous story recounts how he befriended a swan which became very protective of the Bishop and hissed at people who came too near.

The swan's place in the legend of the cathedral is assured, for it is depicted twice in the cathedral's stained glass windows. On St Hugh's death, large crowds came to pay their respects and his shrine became a place of pilgrimage. A modern sculpture was placed there in 1986 to mark the 800th anniversary of his enthronement as Bishop in 1186. Little remains of the vivid colour that would have transformed the cathedral's bare stone into glorious spectacle. As with many of the cathedrals in Britain, much of the medieval art was destroyed during the Civil War. Little remains of the vivid colour that would have transformed the cathedral's bare stone into glorious spectacle. Many of the statues had their heads pulled off when an 18th century restorer accidentally put the heads of the male bishops onto the bodies of the female statues. One statue of a tumbler from around 1330 did survive because of its inaccessible location: legend has it that a tumbler could only offer the Virgin Mary his tumbling skills as a gesture of devotion, hence his place high on the cathedral walls.

Another famous statue is the imp which peers down, ready to pounce should anyone stray from the God-fearing path. There are warnings all over the cathedral for those who may feel tempted to transgress. The 13th century doorway shows the faithful ascending to heaven whilst hairy devils drag the damned into the mouth of hell - a visual warning in an age when the vast majority of the people were illiterate and few copies of the Bible were in existence. Top Liverpool's cathedrals Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral © Liverpool's skyline is dominated by two imposing cathedrals. Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral is the largest cathedral in Britain and the fifth largest in the world. The Roman Catholic Cathedral is known as the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King and was built after World War Two in a futuristic design by Frederick Gibberd. The construction of the Anglican Cathedral began in 1904 to a design by Giles Gilbert Scott, a Victorian designer famous for red telephone boxes and the now defunct Battersea Power Station. Giles Scott came from a family of architects: his grandfather had designed the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, London, and his father, George, was a leading exponent of the Gothic Revival in Britain.

Giles Scott was just 21 when his entry won a design competition for Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, and he can be seen in the bottom left of the Layman's Window, wearing a blue coat. Sadly, he died in 1960 and so did not see the cathedral finally consecrated. Liverpool is home to many faiths but the Catholic and Protestant faiths have traditionally dominated the city. Around the turn of the century, there was an unstated competition between the leaders of the two communities who both attempted to have the larger, more impressive cathedral. Money problems dogged each side's ambitious plans, and the Anglican Cathedral was only consecrated in 1978. The Roman Catholic Cathedral was to have been even more impressive thanks to a design by Sir Edwin Lutyen. Work started in 1933 but the crypt is all that remains of this grand vision before World War Two and budget deficits halted building work. Lutyen's plan was thrown out and a competition was hosted in 1960 to find a newer, cheaper design. Sir Frederick Gibberd's pioneering design won, and work began in 1962. The cathedral was consecrated just five years later.

The Lantern Tower has crowning pinnacles to help make the cathedral stand out against the Liverpool skyline. These are over 52 feet high and feature diagonal struts to strengthen them against the wind. Within the cathedral, the High Altar is at the centre of the circular design. The interior is bathed in many colours, primarily blue as befits a cathedral with more coloured glass than any other in Europe. Liverpool Picturebook Loading... Liverpool Anglican Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is the Church of England cathedral of the Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool and is the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool but it is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin. The total external length of the building, including the Lady Chapel, is 189 metres (620 ft) making it the second longest cathedral in the world; its internal length is 146 metres (479 ft). In terms of overall volume, Liverpool Cathedral ranks as the fifth-largest cathedral in the world and contests the title of largest Anglican church building alongside the incomplete Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City.

With a height of 100.8 metres (331 ft) it is also one of the world's tallest non-spired church buildings and the third-tallest structure in the city of Liverpool. The first part of the Cathedral consecrated for worship was the Lady Chapel, in the south eastern corner of the main building. The Chapel's style is more elaborate than the main body of the Cathedral, reflecting different approaches by the architect, Giles Gilbert Scott and his team. The Chapel has its own organ (built by Henry Willis and Sons) and is regularly used for worship, weddings. The portrait windows of noble women on the west wall of the Chapel are famous. Restored after the Second World War, they show women from different areas of life, including local heroes like Kitty Wilkinson, helper of the poor and Agnes Jones, a devoted nurse as well as nationally known figures such as Grace Darling, Elizabeth Fry and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Liverpool Cathedral is the Church of England Cathedral of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool and is the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It is the Cathedral Church of Christ, in Liverpool.

In late 1901, two well-known architects were appointed as assessors for an open competition for architects wishing to be considered for the design of the Cathedral. G. F. Bodley was a leading exponent of the Gothic revival style, and a former pupil and relative by marriage of Sir George Gilbert Scott. R. Norman Shaw was an eclectic architect, having begun in the Gothic style, and later favouring what his biographer Andrew Saint calls "full-blooded classical or imperial architecture". Giles Gilbert Scott's winning design, with twin towers Architects were invited by public advertisement to submit portfolios of their work for consideration by Bodley and Shaw. From these, the two assessors selected a first shortlist of architects to be invited to prepare drawings for the new building. It was stipulated that the designs were to be in the Gothic style. Robert Gladstone, a member of the committee to which the assessors were to report said, "There could be no question that Gothic architecture produced a more devotional effect upon the mind than any other which human skill had invented." This condition caused controversy.

Reginald Blomfield and others protested at the insistence on a Gothic style, a "worn-out flirtation in antiquarianism, now relegated to the limbo of art delusions." An editorial in The Times observed, "To impose a preliminary restriction is unwise and impolitic … the committee must not hamper itself at starting with a condition which is certain to exclude many of the best men." Eventually it was agreed that the assessors would also consider "designs of a Renaissance or Classical character". For architects, the competition was an important event; not only was it for one of the largest building projects of its time, but it was only the third opportunity to build an Anglican Cathedral in England since the Reformation in the 16th century (St Paul's Cathedral being the first, rebuilt from scratch after the Great Fire of London in 1666, and Truro Cathedral being the second, begun in the 19th century). The competition attracted 103 entries,[18] from architects including Temple Moore, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Charles Reilly, and Austin and Paley.

In 1903, the assessors recommended a proposal submitted by the 22-year-old Giles Gilbert Scott, who was still an articled pupil working in Temple Moore's practice, and had no existing buildings to his credit. He told the assessors that so far his only major work had been to design a pipe-rack. The choice of winner was even more contentious with the Cathedral Committee when it was discovered that Scott was a Roman Catholic, but the decision stood. The Anglican cathedral is one of two cathedrals in the city. The other, the Roman Catholic Metropolitan cathedral of Liverpool, is situated approximately half a mile to the north. The cathedrals are linked by Hope Street, which takes its name from William Hope, a local merchant whose house stood on the site now occupied by the Philharmonic Hall, and was named long before either cathedral was built. John Charles Ryle was installed as the first Bishop of Liverpool in 1880, but the new diocese had no cathedral, merely a "pro-cathedral", the parish church of St Peter's, Church Street.

St Peter's was unsatisfactory; it was too small for major church events, and moreover was, in the words of the Rector of Liverpool, "ugly and hideous". In 1885 an Act of Parliament authorised the building of a cathedral on the site of the existing St John's Church, adjacent to St George's Hall. A competition was held for the design, and won by Sir William Emerson. The site proved unsuitable for the erection of a building on the scale proposed, and the scheme was abandoned. St Peters Pro Cathedral Church Street Interior of St Peters In 1900 Francis Chavasse succeeded Ryle as bishop, and immediately revived the project to build a cathedral. There was some opposition from among members of Chavasse's diocesan clergy, who maintained that there was no need for an expensive new cathedral. The architectural historian John Thomas argues that this reflected "a measure of factional strife between Liverpool Anglicanism's very Evangelical or Low Church tradition, and other forces detectable within the religious complexion of the new diocese." Chavasse, though himself an Evangelical, regarded the building of a great church as "a visible witness to God in the midst of a great city".

He pressed ahead, and appointed a committee under Sir William Forwood to consider all possible sites. The St John's site being ruled out, Forwood's committee identified four locations: St Peter's and St Luke's, which were, like St John's, found to be too restricted; a triangular site at the junction of London Road and Monument Place; and St James's Mount. There was considerable debate about the competing merits of the two possible sites, and Forwood's committee was inclined to favour the London Road triangle. However, the cost of acquiring it was too great, and the St James's Mount site was recommended. A historian of the cathedral, Vere Cotton, wrote in 1964: "Looking back after an interval of sixty years, it is difficult to realise that any other decision was even possible. With the exception of Durham, no English cathedral is so well placed to be seen to advantage both from a distance and from its immediate vicinity. That such a site, convenient to yet withdrawn from the centre of the city … dominating the city and clearly visible from the river, should have been available is not the least of the many strokes of good fortune which have marked the history of the Cathedral".

A stonemason at work on the Cathedral Woolton quarry provided the stone for most of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. Fund-raising began, and new enabling legislation was passed by Parliament. The Liverpool Cathedral Act 1902 authorised the purchase of the site and the building of a cathedral, with the proviso that as soon as any part of it opened for public worship, St Peter's Church should be demolished and its site sold to provide the endowment of the new cathedral's chapter. St Peter's place as parish church of Liverpool would be taken by the existing church of St Nicholas near the Pier Head. The cathedral was built mainly of local sandstone quarried from the South Liverpool suburb of Woolton. The last sections (The Well of the Cathedral at the west end in the 1960s and 1970s) used the closest matching sandstone that could be found from other North West quarries once the supply from Woolton had been exhausted. The paving stones on the path beside the roadway leading to the North Entrance came from the platform of Exchange Station. If you look carefully, you can see some of the edges are rounded. Those were the ones on the platform edge.

The Belltower The belltower is the largest, and also one of the tallest, in the world. It houses the world's highest (67 m (220 ft)) and heaviest (31 UK tons; 31.5 tonnes) ringing peal of bells. The Great George Bell being transported to the Anglican Cathedral up St. James Road in 1951. The Bell Tower The Belltower The belltower is the largest, and also one of the tallest, in the world. It houses the world's highest (67 m (220 ft)) and heaviest (31 UK tons; 31.5 tonnes) ringing peal of bells. The Organ The organ, built by Henry Willis and Sons, is the largest pipe organ in the UK with two five-manual consoles, 10,268 pipes and a trompette militaire. There is an annual anniversary recital on the Saturday nearest to 18 October, the date of the organ's consecration. There is a two-manual Willis organ in the Lady Chapel.

Organists and directors of music 1910 – Frederick William Burstall Liverpool Cathedral, Liverpool | 110843 | EMPORIS Liverpool Cathedral exterior-view-from-hope-street Theodore Bigby fullheightview-view-from-hope-street Theodore Bigby Download Extended Building Profile PDF now! Preview PDF Direct download of the public profile for Liverpool Cathedral See all publicly available data fields Miss out on additional information about building data as well as involved companies and their contact information Direct download of the full building profile for Liverpool Cathedral See additional building data as well as involved companies and their contact information Receive actionable data and start working with new Leads right away Buy now Building pinpoint Gross floor area * The price includes VAT and shipping costs. No shipping costs apply to the download. When downloading images you may be subject to other costs from your internet service provider. The Cathedral Church of Christ EBN church Facts The foundation stone was laid in July 1904 by King Edward VII, and in July 1924 the cathedral, which at that time consisted of only the High Altar, Chancel and Eastern Transepts, was consecrated in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary.

The great organ has 5 manuals and 9,704 working pipes, the tallest of which is 10m (32ft) tall, and is powered by 3 electric blowers with an output of 48 h.p. The original design for the cathedral was for there to be two towers, each 80m (260ft) high, over the transcepts which would have been a design similar to that of Exeter Cathedral. Liverpool Cathedral is the largest cathedral in Britain, the 2nd largest Anglican cathedral in the world and the world's 5th largest cathedral of any denomination. It has the world's largest working church organ, the world's highest and heaviest ringing peal of church bells and the highest gothic arches ever built. The cathedral was finally completed in October 1978, 74 years after construction work began. A thanksgiving service was conducted in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II for a building project that had been slowed but not stopped by two world wars. Before Liverpool Cathedral, the last cathedral to previously have been built and consecrated on a new site in England was Salisbury Cathedral in 1258 - 666 years earlier.

The great tower was completed in February 1942 by Giles Gilbert Scott as he placed the final stone on the final finial. Scott died in 1960, a full 18 years before his masterpiece was to have been completed. The decision to build a new cathedral in Liverpool was taken in 1901, and in 1903 a design by 22-year old Giles Gilbert Scott was chosen. Scott was appointed joint architect with George Bodley. The largest bell is called "Great George", weighs nearly 14.75 tonnes and is only used on special occasions. Do you need more information about this building and its related companies? Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, England | Expedia Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, England | Expedia Liverpool Anglican Cathedral Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, current page Previous image, 34 total items. Next image, 34 total items. Liverpool Anglican Cathedral Britain’s biggest cathedral is home to stunning and sometimes controversial religious art, heavenly architecture and some of the best views over Liverpool. View the world’s highest Gothic arches and the United Kingdom’s largest pipe organ when you visit the stunning Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.

Explore a treasure trove of artworks from across the centuries in the cathedral’s main hall, then make your way to the top of the main tower to enjoy panoramic views over the city. Liverpool Anglican Cathedral was designed in 1903 by Giles Gilbert Scott, but was not actually built until 1978. The cathedral remains a place of prayer and is one of Liverpool’s most visited attractions. As you enter the cathedral, look for the work of controversial artist Tracey Enim. The pink neon For You work sits beneath the Great West Window. Visit the Lady Chapel in the southeast corner and see the 15th-century statue of the Virgin Mary. Also in the chapel, a group of portrait windows on the west wall depict noble women from all walks of life, many of who called Liverpool home. Climb the tower to take in some of the finest views across the city of Liverpool. Standing at 331 feet (101 meters) the tower is reached by two separate elevators and 108 steps so may not be suitable for the very young and very old. Make your way to the Holy Spirit Chapel to observe more exquisite artwork.

The chapel was not part of Scott’s original architectural plans; nonetheless the panel of Christ in prayer is one of the cathedral’s highlights. You will also find the magnificent Redemption sculpture, depicting Christ welcoming those who choose to enter. On the third floor, the Elizabeth Hoare Gallery is home to a beautiful collection of Victorian and Edwardian embroidery. The cathedral also holds a selection of stunning paintings and hosts art exhibitions throughout the year. Visitors are welcome all day from Monday and Saturday, and on Sundays around the times of services. Entry is free, however, a small admission fee may be required to visit the tower and the gallery. The cathedral is a 30-minute stroll from the city center. There is a large parking lot for those arriving by car. Explore More of Liverpool The landmark buildings that never were - BBC News BBC News The landmark buildings that never were 24 July 2012 Read more about sharing. Close share panel The recently opened Shard is already a familiar landmark on the London skyline, but how might the UK's urban landscapes look if some of the most architecturally ambitious plans of past centuries had been fully realised?

Economic and social factors across the ages meant that some of the grandest designs of renowned architects such as Lutyens and Inigo Jones were never completed. Here are five ambitious building projects that never made it off the drawing-board. Liverpool's Catholic Cathedral The famed architect Sir Edwin Lutyens was commissioned in 1929 to build a new Catholic cathedral in Liverpool. The building he planned was monumental. "It would have been 60ft (18m) higher than St Peter's in Rome, it would have been twice the height of St Paul's in London," says Anthony O'Brien, Dean of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, which now stands on the original site. Lutyens' aim was to build a vast brick and granite cathedral topped with a 510ft (155m) dome. The cathedral was to be perched on a high point in the city, its vantage point and sheer size would have dominated the skyline. "Right from the beginning, Liverpool Cathedral seemed incredibly ambitious. Lutyens was always intensely competitive in his work," says Jane Ridley, biographer and great-granddaughter of the architect.

House of God Sir Edwin Lutyens, proposed architect of Liverpool's Catholic Cathedral was Anglican Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral designed in 1903 by Giles Gilbert Scott - a Catholic Foundation stone of Lutyens' plan laid in 1933 but building never finished Lutyens also designed large sections of Delhi Lutyens died New Year's Day 1944 A campaign was launched among the city's Catholic community to raise funds. "In order to finance the building, the parishioners were asked to donate any old gold or jewellery that would contribute to the cost of the building," says Geraldine Judge, a church community worker in Liverpool. Work began in 1933 with the building of the crypt. That's as far as it got. "The crypt is complete. It is a great Lutyens building in its own right. It is staggeringly big. It is like walking into a colossal Edwardian railway terminus," says broadcaster Jonathan Glancey. Why didn't it happen? The cost was always prohibitive, but work halted with the outbreak of World War II and as the conflict progressed Lutyens lost enthusiasm. The grand project ran out of steam after his death in January 1944.

Edinburgh's grand classical avenue South Bridge in central Edinburgh is a traffic-heavy road packed with discount shops - a far cry from plans drawn up in the 1780s for a grand, classical avenue that would have provided a welcoming entrance to one of the great cities of the Age of Enlightenment . South Bridge Plans followed construction of Edinburgh's North Bridge in 1772 Bridge required to cross a ravine Designed by Robert Adam, charged £1200 for his design but only received £900 Adam died in 1792 Architect Robert Kay went on to complete South Bridge Designed by Robert Adam, a giant of 18th Century architecture, the avenue would have included assembly rooms, tea-rooms, colonnades and town-houses. The avenue was never fully realised but parts of the project were built. Adam's Register House shows the architect's vision for an "Enlightenment Edinburgh" says historian Nicholas Phillipson. "There was a sense that Edinburgh would change. There was a shortage of houses and of public buildings. The city had lost its parliament and aristocratic elite. Where would Edinburgh go?" says Phillipson.

Adam's vision was to create one of the most beautiful streets in Europe - on a par with Renaissance palaces of northern Italy. Why didn't it happen? Although he was a renowned architect, Adam had a reputation for over-spending. "Adam charged £1200 for his designs alone, so I dread to think how much it would have cost to produce the finished article," says Frances Sands, curator at the Soane Museum. Find out more Listen to architect Jonathan Glancey's journey through Unbuilt Britain on BBC Radio 4 at 13:45 BST each day this week Catch up with episode one on Liverpool Cathedral on iPlayer via the link (UK only) Adam was asked to build South Bridge but ended up redesigning parts of the city, says Sands. "It was a little unrealistic to think anyone would have the money to pay for this scheme, but that is characteristic of Adam, who did rather get carried away," says Sands. Edinburgh's city fathers knew they could get a cheaper scheme, says Iain Gordon Brown of Edinburgh World Heritage . "They wanted utility, rather than grandeur. They wanted something functional. They wanted a viaduct with houses and shops which could be let to provide rates.

"Adam's scheme was not built but the pattern of it survives, elements of the plan are evident in Edinburgh today in Hunter Square and Blair Street, preserving the ghost of what might have been," says Brown. Inigo Jones's Whitehall palace Imagine a monarch's residence in central London that would dwarf Buckingham Palace. It was almost a reality and perhaps the most ambitious design never built. Whitehall Palace - to replace the earlier complex of the same name - was the dream of Inigo Jones, the first English architect to design in the Classical style. Jones's plan aimed to create a huge palace covering the area now known as Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and large swathes of St James' Park. James I was keen to bankroll Jones's grand scheme. The first part - Banqueting House - was built in 1622 and still stands on Whitehall. Other fragments survive under Downing Street, says Simon Thurley of English Heritage. "This was the first building in England in which the rules of Classical architecture were properly understood and it was far bigger than the then-standing Tudor Whitehall palace. "James I was incredibly ambitious for London and the monarchy architecturally," says Thurley.

"The Banqueting House hall is big enough to be a bus garage, you could get eight double-decker London buses into it and that was less than 5% of what Jones wanted to build." Why didn't it happen? In the early days of his reign, James I's son and successor - Charles I - was keen to continue the project but struggled to raise funds. Whitehall Palace Palace on the site from 13th Century First parts of Jones's renewal commissioned by King James I Inigo Jones submitted further plans in 1638 Jones's design covered much of what is now Whitehall and St James' Park Much of Tudor-era palace destroyed by fires in 1690s Henry VIII's covered tennis courts survived and now form part of Cabinet Office building "The king was always fighting with parliament about funds, which was what eventually caused the English Civil War of 1642, so [this] was probably a doomed project from the very start," says historian Michael Leitman. "What is astonishing is that Charles I was trying to get this palace built in the lead-up to the Civil War, when everything was collapsing around his ears," says Thurley.

"He was captured and locked up in Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight and still called Inigo Jones to visit him. Together they designed this palace." Charles I was later beheaded under the orders of Oliver Cromwell in January 1649. He died in front of Banqueting House. London's pyramid of death Today, Primrose Hill in north London is a park offering views of the city. But in 1829, with a squeeze on burial space in the capital, architect Thomas Willson planned a pyramid mausoleum to hold up to five million bodies. Willson, born in 1780 and trained at the Royal Academy, wanted the pyramid to be 94-storeys high and cover a site of 18 acres, (7000 sq m). "It was supposed to be compact, hygienic and ornamental," says Catharine Arnold, an expert on London's dead. "Willson hoped people would come to admire this huge pyramid from far and wide, picnicking on Primrose Hill and enjoying this splendid monument. But it would be rather like a giant car-park of the dead," says Arnold.

The pyramid-design caught the public's mood for Egyptiana - the height of fashion at the time. Winding walks, similar to today's Guggenheim Museum in New York, were planned to transport the bodies through the pyramid's catacombs to their final resting places. Why didn't it happen? "It would have been monumental, but grotesque - a literal Valhalla," says author Simon Jenkins. "Public opinion stopped it. The arguments for leaving the site wild won the day and Primrose Hill became one of London's most popular parks." Pyramid Mausoleum Planned to ease London's lack of burial space Designed by early Victorian architect Thomas Willson to hold 5m bodies The pyramid was to be 94-storeys high Projected completion cost of £2,500 in 1829 Willson claimed the pyramid would make £10m profit when full, but there was suspicion among the authorities that his figures did not add up. There was also concern that the weight of the bricks may have crushed Primrose Hill. And the public mood turned against necropolises - cities of the dead - as garden-style cemeteries became the norm.

With the building of Highgate cemetery in 1829, the pyramid scheme was finally shelved. McCaig's tower, Oban, Scotland McCaig's Tower stands on a hillside overlooking Oban in Argyll, Scotland. Planned by local businessman John Stuart McCaig as a Scottish version of the Coliseum in Rome, many now refer to it as McCaig's Folly. Situated on two acres of ground, 230ft (70m) above sea-level, it was designed by McCaig himself. Work began in 1896 - at a cost of about £6000 - but it was never completed. McCaig's Tower Coliseum-style construction designed and funded by John Stuart McCaig in 1896 Intended as a monument to the McCaig family Proposed cost estimated at £6000 Views from the tower across to Inner Hebrides Tower part never built and build finally shelved in 1915 It's a Gothic unfinished coliseum above a small Scottish highland port. It's very strange," says Johnny Roger of the Glasgow School of Art. "It's a personal vanity project.

McCaig was going to fill this coliseum with statues of himself and his family, not heroes of Scotland's past." But the politically radical McCaig was also a great philanthropist, and he also wanted to provide work for local stonemasons and artisans at a time of great unemployment. Why didn't it happen? McCaig died in 1902 and building stopped. McCaig left about £60,000 - £6m today - in his will, and instructions that the tower be completed by local workmen. His sister did not want to finish the building and successfully appealed the legacy. The judge, some believe, opposed McCaig politically and ruled against the tower on the grounds that the public would have no right of access. "The criticism levelled at McCaig was that he had done nothing for the community. That was transparently not so and the only explanation must have been political - that the judges did not approve of his politics," says Michael Moss, historian at the University of Glasgow. Further court rulings in 1915 halted the project and the coliseum, without its tower, stands incomplete.

Question: Which famous architect designed Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral?
Answer: Giles Gilbert Scott